Once Upon a Time
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: Mahad, Lena and Cortes go to a bloc in search of a 'priceless treasure' hidden in a medieval looking castle. But what they encounter there turns out to be much more like a poorly written fairytale than reality.


**A/n: **This was inspired by the most random thing. One of the Skyland DVDs I recently bought has this landscape type picture on it with this castle in it that seriously looks like that Disney style blue and white one. I don't remember seeing that in the series. I guess a bit of background they never used, or I just have crap memory. At any rate, it inspired this fic. Which was damn fun to write. I hope you enjoy.

**

* * *

Once Upon a Time**

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" said Mahad.

The Hyperion was on a course for an unnamed bloc, which now was becoming visible on the horizon. This bloc appeared to be a dense mass of grey and even from this distance it looked completely uninhabitable.

"The man who sent us said there is some 'priceless treasure' here he wants us to retrieve for him," Cortes explained. He sat in the passenger's seat of the Hyperion, gazing out the windshield and wondering himself why they had come.

"I didn't think we were into hunting for 'treasure'?" said Lena from the Hyperion's backseat.

"No. But the bloc Dwayne is in charge of has quite a tidy armoury. He's offered assistance in fighting the Sphere should we do this for him. I'm not particularly comfortable with it myself, which is why I wanted to come in the Hyperion. The Saint Nazaire is far too busy collecting water for Puerto Angel, and I'm not sure a mission this vague justifies its use."

"So, we put the Hyperion in danger then? When we might not know what we're getting into?" said Mahad, with a smirk.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd have a problem with that, Mahad," Cortes countered.

"I never said I did," Mahad grinned back.

"Just what is this 'priceless treasure' anyway?" Lena asked.

"Dwayne never said," said Cortes. "All he told me was we'd find a building and the treasure would be in the tallest tower. We'd know it when we saw it."

----

It only took the three a few minutes more to arrive at the bloc ahead of them.

"Are we sure this it?" said Lena. "I can't see any buildings."

"Difficult, when it's covered in all this stuff…" muttered Mahad.

The dense grey they had seen from further away had turned out to be a mass of thick thorns and briars.

"It looks like this might cover the whole bloc," said Cortes. The Hyperion was right up against the thick plant life, so Cortes opened the hatch and climbed out onto the hull for a closer inspection. "Yeah…" he called back. "It looks pretty thick. But your weapons might be able to cut through it to allow the Hyperion to enter." He turned and headed back towards the Hyperion's cockpit.

Mahad couldn't resist giving the ship's control stick the slightest wiggle.

Cortes looked unsteady, and made a grab for the open side of the cockpit a little quickly.

"Sorry about that," said Mahad. "My hand slipped."

Lena glared at her brother, knowing it had been on purpose.

"Just start shooting," Cortes growled once he had safely climbed inside. "The building must be further in under all this mess."

Mahad opened fire on the plant life in front of the Hyperion. Steadily, he began to create an opening and work the Hyperion deeper into the dark midst.

----

Some two hours later, the Hyperion had eventually made its way through to the surface of the bloc itself.

"That took a lot longer than expected," Mahad muttered. His trigger finger was aching, and the Hyperion's weapons power was depleted even more than when he got into a fight with the Sphere. "Hopefully the Hyperion will recharge before we have to leave."

"Mahad! Cortes, look!"

Lena had stepped outside before the other two. She pointed across the flat brown grass they had finally managed to land on. It had been difficult to see in the first place, dark and dim as it was amongst the thick foliage that covered the entire bloc. But here in the middle was a recess where not much seemed to grow and in the direction she indicated was a building.

"It looks like…" Mahad squinted. "A castle or something…"

The building was blue and white. Tall spires extended up until they almost touched the plant mass above. It also looked like there were parapets extending around the upmost walls, and they looked very much like they could have been built to defend the place. 'Castle' was very descriptive.

"Aye," Cortes agreed. "And we'll find what we're looking for in the 'tallest tower'. Interesting…"

"What?" Lena asked, curiosity aroused by the bemused look on the Captain's face.

"No, nothing," Cortes muttered, shaking his head. "Just a thought. Come on, let's find what we have to find and get out of here."

----

Juliet yawned, stretched, and then blew out a warm breath of air. A sigh of frustration. She was so _bored_. Juliet was always bored.

The teenage girl rolled off of her bed, and wandered across her large, spacious bedroom. It wasn't so spacious when it was the only space you were allowed. She sat down at a desk in the corner, pulled out a piece of drawing paper and began to doodle on it.

The brick walls were covered in paper sheets of similar doodles. They were pictures of horses and young men with swords and flowing robes mostly. Juliet sighed again. She had few things to do to pass the time. She could ask the guard for more paper when she ran out. He would normally give her what she asked, unless it wasn't allowed. In which case, he would simply state: "My program does not allow me to do as you ask. I apologise," in that flat, bored voice of his. Juliet wondered if he grew as bored as her.

Tiring of her drawing, she instead picked up a heavy bound volume from the floor beside her desk, and plonked it down on top of her drawings. It was the only book she owned. Juliet opened the cover, turning to her favourite page. It held a picture very similar to most of her doodles. The picture was of a young man wielding a sword on a horse.

Juliet stared at the drawing, so much better than her own, and let out a sigh. Even better than this drawing would be the real thing. "Some day my prince will come…" she sighed, staring dreamily at the book.

That's when she heard a blast outside, then a roar. "What could this be?" she asked herself aloud. She often talked to herself aloud, or she felt she would grow insane.

Juliet got up, and went to the window. A red and white beast had just set down on the dull brown pasture outside. She squinted in the dim light, but it was difficult to make out detail, save the human shape that stepped from what seemed like the creature's mouth.

"What is this?" Juliet asked, again aloud. She returned again to the book on her desk. It had told her that the prince would arrive from outside. Therefore, this must be him. The beast… perhaps this was his steed. Juliet looked at the picture of the horse in her book, and frowned. Well, close enough.

Suddenly she broke into a grin, and almost squealed. "I must prepare for my prince's arrival!"

----

"Be ready," said Cortes as they approached the castle. "We don't know if this place is deserted or if it's defended."

"Look out!" Mahad exclaimed suddenly, pointing to a pinpoint of light he'd suddenly seen on top of the parapets.

Lena threw a shield up above the three, and the projectile bounced off with a flash of light from the outside of the shield's surface.

"Hurry, get close to the wall!" Cortes shouted as he began to run.

Mahad and Lena followed, Lena continuing to hold the shield above them. As they came close to the castle and safety, Lena's shield faltered.

Mahad yelped as something whizzed past his ear. But then they were up under the castle wall, and safe.

"Is everyone alright?" Cortes asked.

"Fine," Mahad muttered, rubbing his head. He'd ploughed into the wall and smacked his head at a fairly decent speed, having been startled by nearly getting hit. "You could've held up the shield a little longer…" he muttered to Lena.

"Sorry… I think my power's running out. Must be because it's so dark under here."

Cortes eyed something a short distance in front of him. He stepped out quickly to pick it up, and then darted back under the cover of the wall just in case he was fired upon again. He held up the item; a long shaft with a metal tip.

"What is it?" Mahad asked.

"It's an arrow…"

"Like Dahlia uses?" said Lena.

"No. Just a normal arrow. No energy, nothing. Just wood and metal."

Mahad snorted. "We were running from that?"

"You wouldn't be laughing if one had stuck in you…" said Cortes. He dropped the arrow to the ground point first to demonstrate, and the tip buried itself in the dirt. "Come on…"

The three headed up to the front door.

"What do we do, knock?" Mahad joked.

The door creaked open of its own accord.

"Creepy…" said Lena.

"Watch yourselves…" said Cortes. He drew out a gun, and stepped carefully over the threshold.

"Do you really think it wise…" said Mahad, "… walking through a door that opened all by itself?"

"Brigs!" Cortes shouted.

Mahad and Lena dashed inside, following Cortes to duck behind a column to the side of the doorway. They were in a large open entrance hall, and three Brigs had stepped out to 'greet' them.

Cortes lifted his gun and aimed for the centre Brig's chest. He pulled the trigger. The gun clicked, no energy came out.

"Halt," said the Brig, unfazed by the malfunctioning weapon.

"Oh for crying out loud," said Mahad. He stepped around Cortes, and threw his boomerang into the head of the centre Brig.

The machine was decapitated, and the boomerang returned to Mahad's hand. "You loaded yet?" he asked Cortes. With no answer, Mahad threw the boomerang again. This time, it took out both of the other Brigs. "Yeesh, they're just as slow as you, Cortes! Most of the time they would've tried to fire by now."

"I think they did…" Lena walked up to the Brig, and kicked its hand. A sword clattered from it.

"Arrows, swords?" said Mahad.

"No energy weapons," stated Cortes. "Look at its other arm. No blaster, just a…" He winced at the nasty looking weapon, "…mace."

"Weird…" Mahad muttered.

"I'd hazard a guess this explains why my gun won't work, and perhaps even Lena's powers. There must be some sort of energy retardant field around this building…"

"A what now?" said Mahad.

"Sounds like something the Vector would say…" Cortes muttered. "Well, we now know out energy weapons won't work. At least Mahad has his boomerang…" He knelt down next to one of the fallen Brigs, and extracted the sword from its lifeless hand. "I guess we'll have to stick to steel…"

"Do you even know how to use that?" Mahad asked.

"I suggest," Cortes growled, trying to ignore Mahad's comment, "that we start searching for this 'tallest tower'."

"Then _I_ suggest, we start going up…" Mahad had picked up the other sword. Somehow, it was beginning to appeal to him a little. He lifted the sword up, and pointed dramatically up the staircase that wound up ahead of them.

"Put that away before you hurt yourself," Cortes snapped, whacking the point away from his face as he walked past.

"Why should you be the only one who gets to have a sword?" said Mahad.

"Give it to Lena."

The three headed up the winding staircase. At the top, a corridor stretched away in either direction.

"Which way?" Mahad asked.

Cortes looked between either end. "I'm not sure. It looks almost the same either way…"

"So… why don't we split up?" said Lena.

Cortes considered that for a moment. "Alright… but you two be careful. And Mahad, I'm serious, give your sister the sword."

Mahad sighed, and handed over the weapon.

"Don't pout!" huffed Lena. "You have your boomerang; I can hardly use my powers!"

"Less fighting, more searching, alright?" Cortes snapped, before heading away from them.

Mahad rolled his eyes. "Come on, Lena."

----

Juliet had seen the three figures enter the castle. Well, she assumed this was where they had gone; she'd lost sight of them as they neared the wall. They had survived the assault which she could view from above the parapets. Only one of them could be her prince, but perhaps he had brought a few loyal men with him to rescue her. It wasn't exactly as the book said, but Juliet didn't think that bringing help was entirely out of bounds. Perhaps her prince was just a wise, level headed young man.

----

"Look at me, I'm a Brig!" Mahad leapt out at his little sister from where he'd been standing in the shadows. A metal helmet was on his head.

"Mahad, stop it!" Lena exclaimed, startled. "We need to find our way up!" She took her sword and whacked it against the side of the helmet on Mahad's head, causing the visor to drop down with a clank.

"Ow!" Mahad exclaimed. He wrestled the helmet off, and kicked it into a corner.

"There's another staircase," Lena pointed out. "It looks like it should lead up."

"Yeah…" Mahad peered up. "I don't see any Brigs, but be careful alright?"

Lena nodded. Together they began to climb. In the darkness, Lena didn't see the thin steel trip wire.

They were about halfway up when the stairs suddenly went flat, leaving a smooth surface beneath the siblings' feet.

"Woah!" exclaimed Lena. She managed to stick the tip of her sword into the now smooth surface. With most of her weight on that, she just managed to keep her boots gripping until she could grab onto the banister.

Mahad fell flat on his stomach and slid downwards. He rolled over onto his back. This brought a view of the lower half of the staircase. Near the bottom, the wall had opened, and a cluster of wicked looking steel spikes poked up the slant of the staircase.

"Holy…!" Mahad made a grab for the banister, but he was moving too quickly to get a grip.

"Mahad!" Lena exclaimed.

Mahad made another grab, nearly gripped, then spun around on his backside so his feet were now against the banister and his back against the wall. He stretched out, feeling heat build up along his back from the friction of trying to slow him down. He slowed, and managed to hook a shoe through the railing. He came to a stop, inches from the ends of the spikes.

"Um… Lena…" he said nervously. He was now stretched across the staircase. It required a fair bit of effort to keep himself stretched out and stable, if he relaxed, he would slip and the spikes were waiting.

"Hang on, Mahad," Lena called down. "I'm coming!" She began to inch her way down the banister.

----

Cortes walked cautiously down the corridor. He'd previously stepped on something that had sent a flurry of arrows across the corridor. He'd only survived because the mechanism had been old, and he'd heard it start to click before it had fully released. He'd hit the floor, and when he'd finally got back up the positions of the arrows in the opposite wall had left him a little awed at how low he'd managed to get. Or simply at how lucky he'd been.

Now, he was being extra cautious. He'd already caught the glint of one tripwire on a staircase and been able to avoid it.

He just hoped Mahad and Lena were safe.

"It can't be far now…" he muttered. He was getting pretty high up the castle.

He walked around a corner, watching his feet. It was because of this he didn't notice the four Brigs until they turned to face him, clanking loudly.

"Halt!" one of them shouted.

Cortes froze.

"You are unauthorised to be in this area. If you do not leave, you will be destroyed."

Cortes took note of their weapons. Two had heavy maces attached to their left arms. The others carried swords.

"I'm not planning on going anywhere, I'm afraid," said Cortes, holding up his sword. He just hoped he could remember how to use this thing.

"Then you will be destroyed," the same Brig said. The two with swords drew them and advanced on Cortes.

Cortes waited until they stomped closer. The first swung its sword up. Cortes ducked under the blow, then swung up and cleaved the machines arm clean off.

The second attacked, and Cortes clashed his sword against the machine's sword. Twice more, and then he got through and stabbed it through the chest. It fell over, energy sparking out from its body.

Cortes only just managed to catch sight of the Brig wielding a mace before it attacked. He dropped to the floor, and the heavy blow meant for him left a large dent in the wall. The Brig became momentarily stuck.

The last one came for him, and Cortes clashed his sword against the mace, ducked once, and then slammed his shoulder into the Brig's chest, knocking it off balance. He decapitated it.

The Brig stuck in the wall just managed to pull itself out. Then it looked down to find a sliver of steel had just been thrust through its belly. It slipped to the floor, control circuits damaged.

Cortes smiled proudly at the damage around him. Hah. Who was Mahad to question whether he could use a sword? Then, it occurred to him that neither Mahad nor any other human being had actually seen his brilliant piece of swordsmanship. His smile faded, and he huffed to himself, before stomping off up the corridor.

----

"Got you!" said Lena. She had managed to climb down the banister, and now grasped Mahad's ankle.

"Okay…" Mahad just looked at her. "… now what?"

"Um…" said Lena. She was precariously balanced along the banister, wobbling. "I don't know…"

"Great, so we're both stuck!"

"I could've left you!"

Suddenly, something whirred.

"Oh, oh…" said Mahad.

The spikes retracted, and the staircase returned to its original shape.

"Ow!" growled Mahad, having suddenly got the edge of a stair sticking into his backside.

"Must've reset itself…" Lena muttered.

"Come on, let's keep going…"

"Back up the staircase?" said Lena, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we must've tripped something. Let's just be careful."

Mahad and Lena climbed the staircase again. This time, they were extra cautious. They also stayed as close as possible to the banister. In fact, they appeared to be climbing the banister more than the staircase itself.

Eventually, they made it to the top, both flopping down with relieved sighs.

"We're safe…" said Mahad.

"Yeah…" Lena agreed. She leaned back, resting a hand on the floor. A tile shifted and clicked beneath her touch.

Mahad's eyes went wide.

"Run!" Lena exclaimed.

They scrambled up, tripped over each other, and crashed down a few feet away.

Right beside them, a flap in the floor dropped open.

Mahad held Lena close to him, but peered over the edge. Down in the hole he just thought he could see dark water, and then something slither close to the surface.

"Let's just hurry up…" said Lena. She didn't even want to look simply from seeing the look on her brother's face.

"Ah… yeah…" Mahad agreed.

The both stood shakily, and headed again upwards.

----

Juliet took one last look around her bedroom. Everything appeared ready. For a brief moment, she wondered if the many pictures still on the walls would make her look somewhat desperate, but then simply shook off the thought.

She checked her hair in her mirror once more, rearranging her curls one last time. Then she ran excitedly over to her bed, and lay down. She lay flat on her back, and as a last minute thought grabbed up a bouquet of flowers from her bedside. She clasped them in front of her, then lay still and closed her eyes.

Her prince would be here at any moment!

----

Cortes stared up the final spiral staircase, the one he was sure led to the tallest tower in the castle. There could be nothing else above this.

Cautiously, he drew his sword once more, and then began the climb. The staircase wound tightly, and who knew what might wait around the corner.

"Halt!"

Again, a Brig stood before him. This one was alone, and behind him was a single, thick and heavy wooden door.

Cortes smiled slightly. This Brig should be just as easy to take down as the others. "I'll be doing no such thing. Now, I think you have what I'm looking for behind that door. Let me pass."

The Brig watched him, but did not immediately attack. "My program does not allow me to do as you ask. I apologise."

Cortes raised an eyebrow. A Brig that apologised? This aroused his curiosity, but also made him more cautious. "Really? Does your program allow you to tell me what is behind that door?"

"Behind this door is a very important asset of the Sphere's. It must not be allowed to be released until the appointed time. It is my job to assure that."

"Well, I'm coming through whether you like it or not…" said Cortes, taking a careful step forward.

The Brig watched him. "You will leave now. Or I will destroy you."

Cortes took another step, holding his sword out in front of him.

The Brig moved suddenly to the side, its palm pressing flat against a red switch on the wall.

Cortes tensed and drew forward faster. He hadn't noticed the switch, and now it was too late. He'd been concentrating on the machine itself.

The Brig turned and drew its own sword, but pressing the button had cost it time, and before it could respond Cortes had cleaved its sword arm off.

The Brig looked down at its lifeless limb, then back at Cortes. "You will not be allowed to leave now."

Cortes decapitated it.

He pushed the lifeless machine out of the way, then lifted the heavy wooden block of wood from across the doorway, also tossing that aside. He opened the door, carefully. He didn't know what lay beyond.

The room beyond was quite large, and also decorated in the blue and white colours of most of the rest of the castle. The walls however, were also plastered in what looked like a child's drawings.

Cortes frowned, and stepped inside carefully. He quickly established there were no Brigs in the room. Beside the drawings, the room only seemed to contain a few pieces of furniture. It was a large bedroom. And right in the centre was a large bed. Thin blue drapes hung around it.

Cortes was getting a funny feeling. The castle, the tallest tower… the thought had occurred to him before, but he had never seriously considered it. He stepped up to the bedside, and drew back the curtains.

On the bed lay a girl; she couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen. Blond hair fell around her shoulders, and her skin was pale, possibly from a lack of sunlight. A princess? The thought had amused Cortes as it had briefly occurred to him before, but now he was worried for this girl's safety. Was she even alive?

He reached out a hand. "Lass…" Her skin was still warm, she had to be alive. "Can you hear me?" She didn't respond, so Cortes leant in to make sure she was breathing okay.

Suddenly, Cortes felt himself grabbed around the neck and pulled forward. Bent over as he was, he was unable to pull back. He felt warm lips press against his. The girl had her arms wrapped around his neck, and she wouldn't let him go. She drew him into a long kiss, her eyes closed tightly.

For a moment, Cortes was completely stunned. Then, possibly on account of running out of air, he caught himself and wrested the girl's arms as gently as he could from around him. A difficult task, as she didn't seem intent on letting go.

Finally, he managed to pull his face back from hers. The girl's eyes opened, then widened. "Oh my…!" she pushed Cortes back, and sat up straight in her bed, moving a little over to the far side and coming very close to tumbling off the side. The bouquet of flowers she'd been holding fell onto the floor.

Cortes blinked, unable to think of a response.

"You… you are far older than I expected!" the girl exclaimed eventually.

"… excuse me?" Cortes managed to get out.

At that moment, Mahad and Lena entered.

"You found the tower… why, hello!" said Mahad, breaking into a grin.

The young girl seemed to brighten as she saw him. "You… are _you_ the prince who has come to rescue me from my imprisonment?"

Mahad tossed Lena a grin. "Why… I guess I am. My name's Mahad. What's yours?"

"Juliet," smiled the girl.

"Cortes…" Lena asked, noticing the Captain appeared to be going through several shades of red in a very short space of time. "Are you feeling okay?"

Cortes cleared his throat, and turned his back on them for a moment.

"So… how long have you been up here?" Mahad asked.

"As long as I can remember. I have been waiting for so long; it gets so boring up here! My only consolation is my book. Here, let me show you." She got up off the bed, went over to the desk in the corner and lifted a heavy bound volume from its surface. She returned to Mahad's side and opened the book. "Look…" she pointed to the picture of the prince upon his noble steed.

"Heh…" said Mahad. "Handsome prince…"

"Yes. The book foretold it, and now you have come!" Juliet threw her arms around Mahad.

"It's a book of fairytales…" said Lena, leaning over for a closer look.

Cortes turned back around. "Fairytales, hmm? Your book isn't designed to 'foretell,' Juliet," Cortes huffed. "You're just very lucky. Now, come on, we need to get out of here. One of the Brigs set off something in the hallway before I got in, who knows what it could have triggered."

"Wait, what about the 'priceless treasure'?" Lena asked. "We can't leave without it, and it must be in this room somewhere…"

"Just hazarding a guess…" said Mahad, looking into the girl's eye. "But I think we've already found… her…"

Juliet grinned, and then giggled, embarrassed.

Cortes sighed. "Yes, Lena. For once, your brother is right."

"First, I must apologise," said Juliet. "Mahad, I did not realise it was simply your companion who had entered my bedchamber at first. I admire his commitment to your cause, but perhaps he should have waited for the royal prince to arrive before he…"

"Alright! We're going!" Cortes snapped, and headed out the door.

"Yes…" sighed Mahad. "He does sometimes get a little out of hand…"

Lena peered at the storybook, locating a picture of the handsome prince awakening the princess. She raised an eyebrow, her mind filling in the blanks. She decided this was not something she would share with Mahad, and slammed the volume shut.

"Come on," she said. "Cortes is right, let's get out of here."

The three climbed down the staircase, eventually catching up with Cortes at the bottom.

"Are we going, or what?" Mahad asked. He'd nearly run into the back of Cortes, who'd come to a halt.

"I thought I heard something…" said Cortes. He held his sword out in front of him, wishing very much his blasted gun was working.

"It must've just been your imagination! Come on, the faster we get downstairs the better."

Cortes nodded. "Just be careful, alright? I don't know about you, but I set off at least one trap."

"Yeah…" said Lena, laughing nervously. "Don't worry, we know."

They continued along the corridor til they came to a staircase leading down.

"After you…" said Mahad.

"Not the best time for it, Mahad," said Cortes. He pushed past, stepping carefully down the stairs first.

"Your courtier is a little bit rude," Juliet whispered to Mahad. "You should reprimand him."

"Believe me," said Mahad, who was positively lapping up all the attention he was receiving. "I've tried on numerous…"

From down the stairs there was a sudden rumbling, then what sounded like a growl.

"Okay, that I _definitely_ heard," said Mahad. "What the hell is that?"

"It sounds like its coming from the corridor at the bottom of the stairs…" said Lena.

Cortes cautiously stepped down a few more stairs, holding out his sword.

On the walls a faint blue glow could just be seen. It appeared to be creeping closer.

"Cortes…" said Lena.

Juliet let out a meep, and gripped onto Mahad's sleeve.

A glowing blue shape poked around the corner. At first, its form couldn't quite be made out. It looked to be about eight or nine feet tall. It came closer, a rumbling coming from somewhere in its body's mass.

"It's a symbiant!" said Lena.

"You think this one will listen to us?" said Mahad.

"I doubt it!"

The symbiant seemed to spot them, then opened its mouth and let out an animalistic roar. The movement drew attention to the form of a head, which was lizard like. This one appeared to be moving on four legs. Then two wings unfurled from its back.

"It looks like… a dragon!" exclaimed Mahad.

Cortes groaned. "First a castle, then a princess, and now a bloody dragon! This just gets better and better!"

"How is there a symbiant here?" said Lena. "My energy won't work, and neither will our weapons!"

"A symbiant's energy source is internalised. This one must be set to run at some frequency this place will allow to work," said Cortes. _Which really means 'Damn that's weird.' Not to mention bloody inconvenient._

"Lena, can you fire at it at the same frequency or whatever it's running on?" Mahad asked.

"I don't know what it's running on! I'd have to get closer…"

"No way are you getting closer to that thing," Cortes snapped. "It'd tear you apart before you could figure out how to fight it."

The symbiant had stopped at the base of the stairs, and stood watching them. Its wings covered between either ends of the banisters; there would be no escape this way.

"Go down this corridor," Cortes called back up the stairs. "There should be another staircase. Maybe we can get it outside, then Lena will be able to fight it."

Mahad nodded. "Right. Come on."

He dragged Juliet's hand, who was still staring in awe at the symbiant.

"Wait, Cortes!" said Lena.

"Go!" Cortes shouted. "Get outside! I'll keep it busy; give you a bit of time!"

Lena nodded, and ran after her brother.

The symbiant watched the object it was programmed to guard disappear along the upper corridor. It then turned from the base of the staircase, and began to stomp up the lower corridor in the same direction.

"Oh no you don't," Cortes growled. The staircase was now clear and he ran down behind the beast. "Hey you, great big beastie! Yeah, you!"

The symbiant paused, looking over its shoulder. It let out a snort, and turned back.

Cortes hurled the sword. It spun through the air, slicing through the symbiant's left wing. The creature snarled, reared up on its hind legs, and then spun around. It crashed back down to all fours so it now faced Cortes.

Cortes now had the symbiant's complete attention. He was now also completely unarmed. He spun on his heel and ran, just as a flurry of blue flame burst forth from the symbiant's jaws, chasing him down the corridor until it ran out of energy.

"Of course it can shoot 'flames'…" Cortes growled as he searched the walls for a new weapon.

----

"I take back what I said about your courtier earlier," said Juliet. "He may be a little rude. And he may wear his hair like Rapunzel, but he's very brave."

Mahad's eyes went wide and he burst out laughing.

"I'm not sure I understand what's so funny…"

"Ignore my brother," said Lena. "It isn't difficult to amuse him."

"Oh, you're his sister!" said Juliet. "So you're a princess too? Why have you accompanied him on such a dangerous mission?"

"That's _exactly_ why I've accompanied him…"

"Rapunzel…" Mahad snickered. His eyes went wide. "Brigs!"

Two more had just appeared in front of them.

Mahad pulled out his boomerang. "Better let me take care of this my fair princess!" he grinned.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," Lena sighed. She lifted up her own sword.

The two advanced on the Brigs in front of them. Mahad engaged the one carrying a mace, slicing off its head before it could get close enough to land a blow. Lena waited until the other advanced upon her, then ducked under its blow, and sliced her sword through its middle.

"This thing's heavy…" she muttered.

"That was very dangerous!" scolded Juliet. "You should let your brother handle such evils; a princess could get herself hurt!"

Lena raised an eyebrow. "That book of fairytales… is that the only book you own?"

"Yes…"

Lena sighed again. "When we get you out of here, we'll find you some more realistic literature, I promise."

"Heh…" said Mahad, deciding that this was not the best time to string along the fairytale nonsense. "Yeah, don't worry about my little sister. She can look after herself."

Within minutes, the three of them had made their way down to the bottom of the castle. They hadn't encountered any more Brigs.

"Oh my…" said Juliet as they stepped out of the castle's large doors.

"What?" Mahad asked.

"I've never been outside before… at least that I can remember. It's… beautiful!"

Mahad and Lena both looked around at the dense dark mass of plants that surrounded them, and the brown grass beneath their feet.

"I suppose so…" said Lena.

Juliet looked up at the glimpse of sky that peeked through the overgrowth, then spun around in a circle, her arms wide, and skirt spinning out around her.

"Ah, let her be happy about it," smiled Mahad.

Suddenly, one of the castle windows broke above them. They all looked up to see a strand of blue energy shoot out from the castle.

"The symbiant!" said Lena.

"Cortes!" said Mahad.

"You think he'll be able to lead that beast down here?" Juliet asked, staring wide eyed at the castle walls.

A good distance along the wall, another window shattered, also accompanied by a burst of blue flame.

"Well…" said Mahad, "he's certainly got it moving…"

----

Cortes ducked around the corner just as another burst of flame raced past his shoulder. What had possessed him to throw the only functioning weapon he held!?

He looked about the castle's corridors desperately. There had to be more weapons lying around. He spotted a suit of armour, and relieved it of its shield. This slowed him down briefly, and suddenly the symbiant was right upon him.

Cortes held the small shield above his head as the beast let out a blast of flame right above him. The energy splattered off the shield.

Cortes didn't hang around to count his blessings. He darted under the creature's rear legs, and headed back the other direction. He had to get downstairs.

The symbiant spun around to follow him, but this slowed the great beast down.

Cortes managed to gain a bit of a lead, and grabbed a heavy looking sword from another suit of armour. He'd rather run than fight however, and despite feeling safer with the weaponry he kept on running.

Quickly, Cortes was able to locate the final staircase. It led straight down to the entrance hall, and then once through the big doors he would be outside. He didn't bother to look behind him as he ran down the stairs, intent as he was on just getting outside.

Nearly at the bottom, Cortes was hit by a blast of air. He slammed into the floor then looked up just in time to see the symbiant glide over his head, and land in front of the big double doors. It turned around to face him, letting out a growl.

"Oh great…" Cortes muttered. He stood to his feet, lifting both the sword and the shield. "Remember this?" he said, waving the sword in sweeps through the air.

The symbiant seemed relatively unfazed. It opened its jaws, thudded down on all fours, and let a blast of energy burst forth from its mouth.

Cortes deflected it with the shield again. These things were supposed to learn, though he wasn't sure how quickly. He darted to the side, and slashed across the creature's upper arm.

The symbiant appeared startled, and jumped away from the source of its momentary pain. Blue energy seeped from the slice in it, but then strands reformed from the rest of its body, sealing over the wound.

"Even better…" Cortes ducked again from another flame. His shield absorbed the energy, but Cortes thought he could feel it beginning to heat up. If it got any hotter, he might have to drop it.

"Mahad! Lena!" he shouted towards the shut doors. They were heavy and thick, and Cortes wasn't sure they could hear him.

The symbiant still blocked the doorway, and Cortes guessed he would either be burnt or crushed if he tried to duck past. Then he noticed the ornamental windows situated right next to the entrance. "You do know the thing you're designed to protect is _outside_!?" Cortes shouted, attempting to convince it just to walk outside. The windows were likely going to be painful. The symbiant just looked at him at snarled. Great, this one hadn't been programmed with language comprehension. Cortes guessed he'd have to try something he'd already proved it understood. "Hey! Over here!" He flung the sword at the beast, not wanting to get any closer to get its attention. Again, it sliced through its body.

The symbiant snarled in pain, and dashed for Cortes. Its wound had already begun to heal over.

Cortes took his shield and flung it like a giant Frisbee, this time, for the ornamental window. The glass shattered, and Cortes leapt out behind it, hoping he would avoid most of the shards. He really had to stop just throwing his weapons around the place.

He landed and rolled in the brown grass. Microseconds later the symbiant smashed out behind him. Its great wings shattered even more of the window around it, bringing more shards crashing down around Cortes. The beast landed, forelegs spread around Cortes' sprawled body, and nose almost touching him.

"Hey, over here!"

Cortes looked up to see Lena, holding a ball of Seijin energy. She had just managed to absorb enough of the limited sunlight coming in through the thorns. She flung it, and it smashed into the symbiant's chest. The dragon like creature stumbled back, away from Cortes.

It brought itself back to its feet, and roared. Lena's attack had caused far more damage than Cortes' sword, but still was not enough to completely defeat it.

Cortes hauled himself to his feet and pulled out his gun, squeezing off a few shots into the beast's body. Good, it was working again.

Lena hurled another ball of energy, and the symbiant began to flicker.

"Time for you to go!" Mahad shouted. He had clambered into the Hyperion, and was now shouting out from the open cockpit. "You've kept this beautiful young lady prisoner long enough, now it must end!" He hurled a flurry of weapons fire at the symbiant. The assault, coupled with the damage both Lena and Cortes had caused in such a short space of time, was just enough to completely deplete the symbiant's power. It toppled to the ground, and let out one last roar before collapsing on its side, and then fading completely.

"My hero!" Juliet exclaimed. She dashed over to Mahad as he clambered down, and flung her arms around his neck.

"It was nothing, really!" Mahad grinned, absolutely beside himself.

"You're welcome…" Lena muttered.

Cortes sighed, and dusted some of the glass shards off his clothing, coming over to stand next to Lena. "This is _all_ he needs."

Juliet drew back from Mahad, looking up into his eyes. "My fair prince, I regret I was unable to make your acquaintance properly earlier, but now, I think a proper greeting will have to do for a thankyou…" With that, she pressed her lips against Mahad's.

Mahad's eyes widened, but then, he didn't exactly mind. He leaned into the kiss, and closed his eyes. The two stayed locked together for a good moment.

"Oh, good grief!" said Lena, turning away. She did _not_ want to watch her brother kissing someone.

"_All_ he needs…" Cortes muttered. He waited a second, and then blinked. They were _still_ going. "For someone who's been stuck in a tower for so long, that girl doesn't seem to have any doubt over how to kiss someone…"

Lena shrugged. "Well, you would know…"

Cortes' eyes widened, and he again turned red.

"I mean…" Lena started, realising she had revealed what she'd guessed.

Cortes turned and stomped away from her.

"I'm sure you didn't mean to!" Lena called after him.

----

The Hyperion pulled into dock. They had just arrived at Dwayne's bloc, his 'precious treasure' in tow.

"Oh my, this bloc is so beautiful!" Juliet exclaimed as they climbed out of the ship. She'd been saying that about just about everything she saw, but that was understandable considering where she had lived most of the years of her life.

Cortes spotted Dwayne down on the docks, heading towards the Hyperion. He stepped down from the ship, and walked over to meet the man. "Dwayne…"

"Cortes!" the man rushed up to him and grasped him by the shoulders. "Was your mission successful? Did you find…?"

"Her?" Cortes finished for him, grabbing the other man's hands and removing them from his person. "Yeah, we found her."

Dwayne looked past Cortes, to where Juliet had just stepped out of the Hyperion, Mahad helping her down onto the docks. The boy was again trying to live up to the prince thing, but the gesture was probably necessary due to Juliet's large dress.

"I assume… your daughter?"

"Yes…" Dwayne stepped past Cortes. "Juliet…"

The girl looked up.

"Juliet… my daughter. I'm… I've missed you for so long. I'm your father."

Juliet paused, looking over the man in front of her. Then she burst into a grin. "Father!" She ran and flung her arms around his neck.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" said Dwayne, returning the hug. "Cortes, thank you for bringing her back to me. I regret I was unable to give you details on what exactly you were searching for… but I was simply worried for my daughter. I figured it would be better if you didn't know."

Cortes shrugged. "That's alright."

"The Sphere took her when she was young… something about her holding a key to, or being the 'lady of light'. But I don't think anything ever came of it, and they simply forgot about her…"

"But you did not forget me, did you father? I am so glad to finally meet you!"

"And I'm so glad to see you again," Dwayne smiled, his eyes teary.

"Father, I must introduce you to my rescuer, Mahad."

Mahad waved. "Just doing what anyone would have done!?" he said with a grin.

"He is the fair prince who rescued me from my dreary prison and slayed the dragon that held me there…"

"Dragon?" questioned Dwayne.

"A symbiant was guarding her," Cortes explained. "Here…" He handed over the book Juliet had brought with her. "This might explain a few things; it was the only thing your daughter had to read whilst in that tower…"

"Oh…" Dwayne examined the cover.

"Not that I'm _not_ a handsome prince," said Mahad, grinning at Juliet.

"Mahad…" Cortes warned.

"It's true, father! Mahad is my true prince! He rescued me! And now, we must be wed! All that waits is for you to give your blessing, father!"

"Wait, what? … _wed_?" said Mahad.

"Another word for 'responsibility', Mahad," said Cortes, a smile beginning to tug at the corner of his lips.

"Um…" Mahad suddenly appeared very nervous. "What… we just met! I mean… I left… something in the Hyperion!" With that, he turned tail and scrambled back into the ship.

"Mahad!" Juliet called after him. "My fair prince!"

"Cortes, you'll have our arsenal at your disposal, I promise you…" said Dwayne. He appeared slightly distracted, watching his daughter fret over Mahad's hasty retreat.

"Thanks," Cortes nodded. "Don't worry, she'll sort herself out. Just maybe find her something else to read."

Dwayne sighed, and nodded. "Juliet… come here sweetie…"

Cortes headed back to the Hyperion, Lena close behind him.

"Mahad seems to have changed his tune…" Lena giggled. "I've never seen him so desperate to get away from a girl…"

"Aye, its amazing what the threat of commitment will do to a young man…" Cortes smirked.

"Perhaps we should suggest something similar to Dahlia," said Lena. "I'm sure she'd appreciate the extra cannon fodder…"

"I'm not so sure it'd work as well for Dahlia…"

"Come on!" Mahad yelled at them as they opened the hatch to the cockpit. "Let's go already!" He kept glancing down at the docks, as if Juliet might somehow sneak back onto the ship and pin him down.

"Alright, we're here," said Lena. "Fly us out of here… fair prince!"

"Oh, ha. Very funny." Mahad had already started the Hyperion, and he pulled it away from the dock, heading back towards Puerto Angel.


End file.
